So far for purely utilitarian considerations. Again, supposing you take
on board a hospital ship a man who is enduring bitter suffering;
supposing you heal him, bring him under gentle influences, lead him to
know the Lord Jesus Christ and to follow Him, and send him away with his
personality transformed--is not all that worth a little money, nay, a
great deal? I am fully aware that it is a good thing to convert a Jew or
a Bechuana, or even a Fantee--their rescue from error is a distinct
boon; but, while honouring all missions to savage nations, I like to
plead a little for our own kindly breed of Englishmen. Already we see
what may be done among them; good-hearted amateurs are willing to work
hard, and the one hospital cruiser--One! among so many!--is succeeding
splendidly. Give the English seamen a chance, then.
The interesting West African is clearly a proper object for pity as to
his spiritual condition, but, to my mind, he has, in some respects, the
jolliest, easiest life imaginable. Give him enough melon, and he will
bask blissfully in the sun all day; you cannot get him to work any more
than you can get him to fight for his own safety:--he is a happy, lazy,
worthless specimen of the race, and life glides pleasantly by for him.
Spend thousands on the poor Fantee by all means, but think also of our
own iron men who do _not_ lead easy lives; think of the terror of the
crashing North Sea; think of the cool, imperturbable, matchless braves
who combat that Sea and earn a pittance by providing necessaries (or
luxuries) for you and for me.
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